The discussion page of Free Thinking Individuals Throughout the Shenandoah Valley.
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"Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think." ...Martin Luther King, Jr.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

Richardson ends campaign

Drew Richardson suspended his campaign for the House of Representatives today. The following statement was released on his website and in an email:

It has been my privilege to be a candidate for the office of U.S. Congress and to seek the Democratic nomination for that office in our district. Nevertheless, it has become obvious to me over the last many weeks that my opponent has won the support of a majority of our party's activists and perhaps had done so prior to my entry into the race.

If I were to continue with my campaign I have concluded, even if I were to be successful, the win could badly divide our party. I personally would be left with, at best, merely having won a short-lived victory only to guarantee sure defeat for the party and myself in November.

For these reasons, as well as to allow my opponent to begin his general election campaign a month or two earlier than he might otherwise have done, I am suspending my campaign for the Democratic nomination effective immediately.

I congratulate the presumptive nominee, Mr. Rasoul, and wish him and his supporters well and good luck over the coming months. Thanks to those who have encouraged me to enter this race, to those who have supported my efforts and particularly to my campaign staff.

Finally, a special thank you to all of you for your past, present and continued participation in the political process.

9 comments:

I'm curious, Stephen: have you noticed that party officials all over the country have been endorsing one or the other of the candidates for president? And that Tim Kaine, for example, was an early Obama supporter? Did that in any way preclude the rest of us from making up our own minds about whom to support? How is that different from having a county Chairman make a personal endorsement?

Have you at any time felt pressured by the Chairman's support for Rasoul or Obama to follow his lead? I'm also curious as to whether you raised your concerns at an ACDC meeting - because I don't recall hearing anyone do so.

While I appreciate what you've done for the Augusta Committee, I am disappointed in this last swing in your manner. Since it seems I violated some un-written protocol by trying to draw traffic to "your" site, which I thought would promote the ACDC message, I will stop. Further, since I have also somehow violated some other protocol by pointing out that as chair, you shouldn't have been so eager to have a candidate that you improperly used your trusted position of influence as chair in an attempt to sway people who depended upon you for un-biased leadership in building the Democratic Party, I will not follow, as you have shown willingness to do, the example of the Augusta and Staunton Republicans. I will simply no longer attend your meetings, nor will I any longer write ACDC contributions. I will invest my time and resources toward other organizations which actually promote the Democratic ideal of allowing the people the opportunity to decide for themselves. I don't live so far away that Harrisonburg or Rockingham meetings would be inconvenient, and both of those committees have shown great interest in and dedication to impartially providing their membership information and access to candidates so that voters can make up their own minds.I would sincerely like to thank Harrisonburg and Rockingham for their extraordinary effort, the latest of which was a very well done candidate forum.You have my pledge Mr. Chairman, that I will no longer direct traffic to your site. Please accept my apology for having done so in the recent past.

stephen,Whoa. First of all, my post above is MY post. I am not the Chairman and I don't speak for the Committee any more than you do. I just asked some questions about why you feel the way you do, because I'm not aware of any other concerns. And I don't know who you are, so it's going to be hard to encourage the Committee to reach out to you to find out what the problem is. As I said, I heard no such objections in the meetings, so I know you didn't raise them in the meetings. If you have a problem with the Chair's actions, come to the next meeting and raise them there.

I am really sad that the chair of the Augusta Committee took this turn. I thought he was a fair man but I guess he is just a regular politician looking for the quick and easy way. I was gonna be involved, but now I see that the good old boy system is alive and well. Even in the demorats.

anonymous 4/9/08 12:05 AM,What do you mean by "quick and easy way"? Why isn't the chair entitled to give his personal support to a candidate? If you are really sincere about wanting to be involved, why don't you bring your concerns to the committee? There was a meeting this week. Were you there?